As you probably know by now IBM's commitment to the Linux platform is broad and deep. That includes, of course, IBM Sametime. We're steadily expanding and refining our support for Linux starting with our server components and we have a plan to bring all the goodies we shipped with Sametime 9 to the Linux desktop. It's a journey and it's been very satisfying so far.

Our development team has been documenting their experiences with Linux and they're ready to share it with all of you. If you're a Sametime administrator living in the Windows world and are interested in learning how Sametime works on Linux you should join us in April 9 for our next Open Mic Webcast. As in all our Open Mic sessions you'll hear from our developers and then you'll have a chance to ask questions and share your own experiences with them and your peers.

You can find out more about this event here. Don't miss it. It's going to be interesting.

Savings Bank, one of Finanz Informatik's many customers, just unveiled a brand new service they call Online Chat that allows customers to communicate with their financial advisors. The service is based on the IBM Sametime Web Chat client and it integrates with the bank's Interactive Service Platform developed by Finanz Informatik. This new service is yet another branch of the multi-channel customer service infrastructure Savings Bank has set up for its customers. It all runs out of the call center. It's easy to use, and it's already proving to be very effective. Take a look:

Don't worry if you don't speak German.

Congratulations to our friends at Finanz Informatik. This is a great implementation and a mighty fine example of what IBM Sametime can do. Congratulations also to Savings Bank. I'm sure their customers will be very pleased with the new service.

As some of you may already know, today was my last day as the Program Director for Sametime Product Management. On Monday, I start the next chapter in my IBM career - as the Program Director for IT Solutions for Rational. There, I'll oversee strategy and Industry Solutions for a billion dollar portfolio. I'm looking forward to learning about a new space and leveraging my previous experience in industry solutions. (They tell me I'll be dreaming about DevOps in my sleep.)

I've been a part of this business for a long time and am happy to leave it in very capable hands. Kramer Reeves, the Director of Product Management for Messaging and Collaboration, will take on management responsibilities until he names my replacement (soon from what I hear). The rest of my team will handle the day-to-day activities, with Kramer's support:

William Kulju - Offerings Manager overseeing licensing, pricing, packaging and other business issues.

While I'm proud of all of our accomplishments, Sametime 9 has to be the crowning achievement of my tenure. With its new, streamlined (dare I say, sexy?) user experience, the cutting edge continuous presence video, deep integrations with Connections and incredible mobile clients... I'd put Sametime up against any communications software on the market today. It's been an incredible amount of fun watching customers and partners get so excited over this release. More importantly, the team is building on Sametime 9 and has great things in store for the future. I look forward to watching the Connect 2015 live stream - as a user - to see all the innovations on the way.

Lastly, I want to thank the entire extended Sametime team for their ceaseless dedication and hard work. And to the members of my direct team - both past (Lisa, David, Rob, Kathleen, Akiba, Bruce) and present (Julie, Marlon, Marc & William) - thanks for being great colleagues and incredible friends. I probably would have moved on long ago if it wasn't for how much fun I had with all of these great individuals.

The IBM Serviceability Tool for Sametime is definitely getting better with age. The team has been busy refining it and giving it more muscle to make Sametime 9 deployments easier, faster and predictable. This week we're adding some cool new features I'm sure you all are going to like. Here's the list:

Diagnostic analysis and viewing with custom filtering,

New features on the Configuration Validation module:

LDAP server integration, which allows direct validation with the LDAP server if available,

A Policy Summary view coming directly from the Systems Console and the Meetings Server if available.

A new Configuration Compare view that allows you to see two different server configurations side by side so you can spot the differences,

Two new features on the Network Mapping and Monitoring module:

The ability to trace-route your workspace network via a graphical map showing the servers added to the network and the addressable nodes in between relative to the tool,

The ability to monitor server status via ping if the servers are available.

Built-in help (I know… we needed this one).

Here's a few screenshots for your viewing pleasure.

This is the new Configuration Compare view:

This is what the new Diagnostic Viewer looks like:

I mentioned the diagnostic analysis view includes custom filters. Here's what that looks like:

And, finally, here's the new network scan feature:

As always, remember the IBM Serviceability Tool for Sametime is available for download from the Solutions Catalog in Greenhouse. You can get it here.